STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - TRAVIS - Ever since she was a toddler, still in a stroller, Julianna Caliri – who is now 6 and will start first-grade at PS 60 in Graniteville – remembers going with her parents to the Midland Beach promenade for the annual "Great Strides: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis" (CF) walk to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The family would walk as part of the "Kamryn's Angels" team, to benefit family friend Kamryn Fasano, of Richmond, now 8 years-old, who was born with CF.

This year, in addition to the walk, which took place June 12, Julianna wanted to do something else for her friend.

So, on the first Sunday of summer, Julianna and her sister, Brianna, 4, set up a lemonade stand.

"I wanted to help my friend because she has trouble breathing," explained Julianna. The sisters' little stand, in front of Oceanic Hook & Ladder Co. 1 on Victory Boulevard, where their dad, Rick Caliri, is assistant chief, raised more than $200 in donations.

And, while the two sisters sold lemonade outside, inside the volunteer firehouse, Julianna's mom, Michele Caliri, and several friends, staged a Tupperware party that raised another $1,500 for the cause.

Volunteer firefighters were on hand to help, and Oh How Cute, a party store on Victory Boulevard, donated a colorful balloon arch to draw attention to the fund-raiser.

"People stopped in all day," Mrs. Caliri reported. "Cars pulled over and people from the neighborhood walked over to help."

Everyone who gave a donation got a cool cup of lemonade and cookies, donated by Julianna's grandmother, Barbara Mastropietro, of Westerleigh.

About 1,000 new CF cases are diagnosed each year and about 30,000 Americans are living with the disease, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The predicted median age of survival is more than 37 years.